Do I have to keep track of calories per day?

Question

I know what im eating and I know its a good and healthy food. I quit cold turkey drinking soda, chips, snacks ect..
Yesterday I filled my shopping cart with nothing but fruits and 100 calories snacks, granola bars yogurts. Low sodium bacon (only 3 slices in the morning). I eat 6 small portions per day vs. 3 meals. So I know what Im eating cant be much in calories. Should I make sure I eat a certain amount of calories per day or no more then a certain amount? I seriously cant see myself having much calories now that Im eating healthy. So im just curious if I should make sure I dont go above a certain amount of calories. Also Im only drinking gatorade, crystal light and water water water. I know im headed down the right path. Also walking 1 hour a day , 5 days a week. Should I be obsessed about calories keeping under a certain amount? Thanks in advance for your replies

Answer 1

Chill...your doin well u don't have to count your calories. I think you might wanna check the calories of the bacon though! well done!:)

Answer 2

Sometimes, it is helpful to keep food journals with calorie amounts and what you ate. And not necessarily just to keep yourself on track. But say you are trying to lose weight and after awhile doing the good eating behavior, you notice you aren't getting results or you feel sluggish. You can go back and look at weeks where you wrote down that you feel energized or where you had good weight loss, and try and draw patterns between which foods react with you in which ways. Some people are going to realize that sweet potatoes are their golden goose to health, some people might find that asparagus has a similar effect. You might realize that dairy doesn't make you feel energized as energized, or that more water makes you feel more energized.

Just for the sake of it, I'd get a general tally of calorie amounts. Those little buggers can sneak themselve in a lot of places (especially look out for calories in liquids like the gatorade and any juice you drink). I realized that when I drank a tall glass of apple juice in the morning and 2 pieces of honey oat toast without butter. I thought I was being healthy, drinking a glass of juice and just eating some toast, but it turns out that my meager breakfast was actually totalling up to about 400-500 calories. And when I was trying to stick to 1500 cals per day, and still eating 6 meals per day, and I'd already blown a third of my calorie allowance when I hadn't even been awake for an hour yet, I got a little bummed lol.

So, you may be eating a lot of healthy stuff, but you may be eating more of it than you thought. Don't be obsessed though, that can get out of hand. It is pretty hard to get a correct calorie amount in fruits, so don't beat yourself up trying to find the correct amounts.

I didn't really get from your question whether you were trying to lose weight, or just get healthier, but once you get a general idea of how much you're eating, do a web search to find out your basal metabolic rate (how many calories your body weighs just breathing, pumping blood, etc daily), as well as how many calories you burn in exercise daily. From there, it's pretty simple. If you're eating more calories that your body burns, you could be gaining weight, if you eat and burn about the same, your weight will stay the same, and obviously if you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

The average person really should NOT consume LESS than 1200 calories per day unless instructed by a doctor. Eating less could cause your metabolism to slow down, etc, etc, I'm sure you know the rest.

Best of luck!

ohh, and I almost forgot...Please eat more protein. Eat some chicken, fish, etc. SOMETHING. You're not going to want to eat 3 strips of bacon, a bunch of fruit, 100 calorie packs, granola, and gatorade for the rest of your life.

Answer 3

I think you are getting a little TOO obsessed. It should not be that difficult. 3 pieces of bacon every morning---not good. Find a better source of protein. It's not the sodium, it's the fat. Bacon should be a once in a while treat. Maybe 3 slices on a Saturday OR Sunday morning. You sound like you are cutting yourself too far back. Now....100 calorie snack packs granola bars are also bad choices. Those things are just no good for you. Gatorade is also no good. You only need something like that if you are exercising REALLY hard everyday. You didn't say anything about that. You really need to re-assess your food choices.

*High fiber cereal and fruit for breakfast.
*Lean proteins, whole wheat breads or WW rice, low-sodium vegetable & bean soup, salads (watch the fat content) for lunch
*Dinner should be lean protein, lots of vegetables and no carbs for dinner. Never eat carbs after 5pm.

It's just that easy. Watch your sugar and fat intake and stay away from those snacks, granola and like things. Also, watch the sugar content of the yogurt. You are self-sabotaging your diet those foods.

Answer 4

It really really helps to keep track of your calories. I do typically every other day on http://www.my-calorie-counter.com ... but honestly, a lot of days I KNOW I am eating good and don't feel like keeping track. Some days you are going to want to splurge a little bit! And as long as you are exercising and eating healthy 80% of the time, you aren't going to gain as much weight as you would've before you started your regimen.

Oh yeah, and definitely the Gatorade thing ... it is loaded with sugar and calories. If you like flavor, try Diet Lipton Green Tea in mixed berry or citrus. I swear by that stuff ... and it's cheaper!

Answer 5

I do not think it is important to count calories but do make sure you do not overdo the gatorade and snack foods as they may be low in fat and high in sugar. Try doing some strength training 2 or 3 times per week also.

Answer 6

If you are serious about losing weight, then yes. You should eat fewer than 1500 calories per day. Be careful with Gatorade, they are full of calories. If you need to check the caloric content of a certain food such as apples or things like that, check it here
http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/calorie_counter.asp
But if you are serious then YES, you need to watch every calorie that goes in to your body!

Answer 7

I count huge type energy in each little thing I eat and drink. I often eat around 2,six hundred to 2,seven-hundred energy an afternoon. back when I had a job unloading automobiles at a significant retail shop, i mandatory approximately 4,4 hundred energy an afternoon. If i would be unable to withstand the temptation to snack too plenty contained in the evening, i will in simple terms have a smaller breakfast day after immediately to compensate. i'm 5'11" and weigh approximately one hundred ninety pounds. i'm hoping to get right down to approximately one hundred eighty sometime, as i believe that I even have lost some muscle and gained fat when I stop that job unloading automobiles. What made me calorie conscious is that my weight replaced into too volatile. i might pass from one hundred ninety to one hundred fifty to one hundred seventy to one hundred ninety and then backpedal to a hundred and sixty, that style of element. Counting energy retains my weight greater sturdy.

Answer 8

listen..if you are seriously about losing weight...do exacly as a i tell you..it works..im telling you cause i got this method from a profesional and it worked on me....Calories are the main source your body use for energy....if you eat a lot of calories youll be fat...IF YOU DONT EAT CALORIES AT ALL..( i dont mean that you dont have to, to make this work..but the fewer the better) YOUR BODY WILL USE FAT AS A THE FIRST SOURCE OF ENERGY...so that means that instead of calories..youll be burning fat....(that means that..youll be losing weight even when your sleeping!!!!) By the way keep an eye on exercising,otherwise even if your a male, after you lose some weight..your boobs will go all the way down to your belly...( it sucks )

Answer 9

I would keep track of your calories for a typical three days (use www.fitday.com, it's free) and judge what your caloric intake is. Then you'll know more about the food you eat and you won't have to obsess about it every day!

Answer 10

Keeping trrack of your calorie intake for a week or two can really help you find those "hidden" calories that are adding up. There are many sites that help you enter that information - one I found useful is

www.fitday.com